A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for several counties in north Georgia in advance of Hurricane Nate which is expected to begin impacting weather in the region overnight.
However, tropical storm alerts are no longer in effect in some places, including Gainesville, though a Flash Flood Watch remains in place. Northwest Georgia is now expected to feel the strongest impact from the storm.
"Heavy rainfall, flash flooding, strong wind gusts, and isolated tornadoes are all possible on Sunday afternoon and evening," according to a statement late Saturday afternoon from the National Weather Service Office in Peachtree City. "Power outages can also be expected, mainly in northwestern Georgia where winds will be the strongest."
The Tropical Storm Watch has been cancelled for Clayton, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Fayette, Forsyth, Gwinnett, Hall, Lumpkin, North Fulton, South Fulton, Towns, Union, and White counties, but remains in place for Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Heard, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Troup, and Whitfield.
The Tropical Storm Watch has been upgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning for Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, and Walker counties.
During the height of the storm, winds of 30 to 40 mph will be possible with gusts as high as 50 mph across far northwest Georgia. Storm total rainfall is expected to be on the order of 3 to 5 inches north of a line from Rome, to Dawsonville, to Homer with locally higher amounts possible.
Meanwhile, though the chances of tropical storm winds and rains in northeast Georgia has lessened, Jackson EMC continues to plan for possible power outages across its service area.
"As of now, in addition to our own 150 linemen, Jackson EMC has more than 250 crew members from Texas, Indiana, Arkansas, Virginia, Tennessee and Florida in the area ready to be dispatched," a statement issued late Saturday afternoon said. "If needed, these crews will work side-by-side with our own to remove damaged trees and limbs, and make outage repairs as quickly and safely as possible. We will continue to reach out for additional resources as needed."
Nate made landfall Saturday night at the mouth of the Mississippi River.
